U.S. stocks are wobbling as investors await Powell’s speech

Investing.com — U.S. stocks are wobbling, with gains led by the tech sector as investors await Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday at the central bank’s annual conference.

At 11:12 ET (15:12 GMT), the was down 113 points or 0.3%, while the was up 0.1% and the was up 0.5%.

The main equities indices closed in a mixed fashion Monday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping slightly, while the broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.7%.

The highlight, however, came from the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, which rose over 200 points, or 1.6%, its biggest gain of the month, even as the yield on the reached its highest level since November 2007.

This jump was largely based on hefty gains by Nvidia (NASDAQ:), which closed over 8% higher, the biggest jump in nearly three months, as investors wanted exposure to the world’s most valuable chip designer ahead of quarterly results on Wednesday.

More retail earnings due

The retail sector will remain in focus Tuesday, with home improvement retailer Lowe’s (NYSE:) posting a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly comparable sales and for profit, helped by a boost from delayed spring season sales and sustained consumer spending on smaller projects.

The consumer has remained resilient in the face of inflation, which has been cooling off compared with last year’s pace. Retailers should be able to project consumer spending trends heading into their important holiday sales season.

Arm releases IPO prospectus

Elsewhere, SoftBank-owned (TYO:) Arm has released a preliminary prospectus for a Nasdaq listing, firing the starting gun on a long-awaited initial public offering that could be one of the biggest U.S. flotations in nearly two years.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:) has proposed a revised version of its merger with “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:) in a bid to receive approval from U.K. competition authorities for the video-gaming industry’s largest-ever tie-up.

Existing home sales due

The economic data slate is largely bare Tuesday. sales of for July were slower than expected at 4.07 million annually, a 16.6% drop from last year. Analysts expected an annualized number of 4.15 million, down slightly from the month before.

The week’s main focus, however, is the Fed’s annual symposium at , Wyo., starting at the end of the week. Friday’s speech by Powell will be the highlight as investors look for clarity on the economic outlook and the future path of .

Crude retreats ahead of API inventories

Oil prices were little changed Tuesday, as traders warily weighed the prospect of a faltering Chinese economic recovery, while also awaiting more signals on U.S. monetary policy at the Jackson Hole symposium at the end of the week.

U.S. crude oil and gasoline inventories are also due later in the session from the industry group, while the , the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, will release its own data on Wednesday.

(Peter Nurse and Oliver Gray contributed to this item.)